Today's Reading

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Command the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders),

³then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward;

⁴and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out of it shall be southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go forth to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon;

⁵and the border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea.

⁶"'For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border: this shall be your west border.

⁷"'This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for you Mount Hor;

⁸from Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad;

⁹and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar Enan: this shall be your north border.

¹⁰"'You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham;

¹¹and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward;

¹²and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it.'"

¹³Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, "This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe;

¹⁴for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers' houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers' houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received, their inheritance:

¹⁵the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise."

¹⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷"These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹⁸You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance.

¹⁹These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

²⁰Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.

²¹Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

²²Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli.

²³Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

²⁴Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

²⁵Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

²⁶Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

²⁷Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

²⁸Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud."

²⁹These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

¹The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

²"Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and you shall give suburbs for the cities around them to the Levites.

³The cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their livestock, and for their substance, and for all their animals.

⁴"The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it.

⁵You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.

⁶"The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to: and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.

⁷All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their suburbs.

⁸Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites."

⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁰"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

¹¹then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.

¹²The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer not die, until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

¹³The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.

¹⁴You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.

¹⁵For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.

¹⁶"'But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁹The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

²⁰If he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,

²¹or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.

²²"'But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait,

²³or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;

²⁴then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances;

²⁵and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶"'But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he flees,

²⁷and the avenger of blood find him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the manslayer; he shall not be guilty of blood,

²⁸because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession.

²⁹"'These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

³⁰"'Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.

³¹"'Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death.

³²"'You shall take no ransom for him who is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

³³"'So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood, it pollutes the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him who shed it.

³⁴You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell: for I, the Lord, dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.'"

¹The heads of the fathers' households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' households of the children of Israel:

²and they said, "The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.

³If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.

⁴When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers."

⁵Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right.

⁶This is the thing which the Lord does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married.

⁷So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

⁸Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers.

⁹So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance."

¹⁰The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses:

¹¹for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father's brothers' sons.

¹²They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

¹³These are the commandments and the ordinances which the Lord commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹After he had finished speaking in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

²A certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and at the point of death.

³When he heard about Jesus, he sent to him Jewish elders, asking him to come and save his servant.

⁴When they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy for you to do this for him,

⁵for he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us."

⁶Jesus went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof.

⁷Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to you; but say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁸For I also am a man placed under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, 'Go!' and he goes; and to another, 'Come!' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

⁹When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude who followed him, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel."

¹⁰Those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant was well.

¹¹It happened soon afterwards, that he went to a city called Nain. His disciples, along with a great multitude, went with him.

¹²Now when he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her.

¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, "Do not cry."

¹⁴He came near and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still. He said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"

¹⁵He who was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.

¹⁶Fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited his people!"

¹⁷This report went out concerning him in the whole of Judea, and in all the surrounding region.

¹⁸The disciples of John told him about all these things.

¹⁹John, calling to himself two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?"

²⁰When the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the One who is to come, or should we look for another?'"

²¹In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and to many who were blind he gave sight.

²²Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

²³Blessed is he who is not offended by me."

²⁴When John's messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

²⁵But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings' courts.

²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.

²⁷This is he of whom it is written, 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

²⁸"For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John, yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he."

²⁹When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John's baptism.

³⁰But the Pharisees and the Law scholars rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.

³¹"To what then will I liken the people of this generation? What are they like?

³²They are like children who sit in the marketplace, and call one to another, saying, 'We piped to you, and you did not dance. We mourned, and you did not weep.'

³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'

³⁴The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

³⁵Wisdom is justified by all her children."

³⁶One of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat at the table.

³⁷Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of ointment.

³⁸Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

³⁹Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner."

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." He said, "Teacher, say on."

⁴¹"A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

⁴²When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?"

⁴³Simon answered, "He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most." He said to him, "You have judged correctly."

⁴⁴Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.

⁴⁵You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.

⁴⁶You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

⁴⁷Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."

⁴⁸He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

⁴⁹Those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

⁵⁰He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

¹ Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.

⁴Against you, and you only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.

⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.

⁶Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

⁷Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.

⁹Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Do not throw me from your presence, and do not take your holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

¹⁵Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.

¹⁶For you do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.

¹Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling.

⁴The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

⁷A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, "I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?"

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

¹²The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, The Lord has made even both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴"It's no good, it's no good," says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and abundance of rubies; but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

¹⁷Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!

¹⁹He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore do not keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

²¹An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won't be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, "I will pay back evil." Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.

²³The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.

²⁴A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is the Lord's lamp, searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength. The splendor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Wounding blows cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost parts.